Churchill Financial Advisors LLC Trims Stock Position in International Business Machines Corporation $IBM

Churchill Financial Advisors LLC cut its stake in International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM) by 6.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 33,808 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 2,440 shares during the quarter. International Business Machines makes up approximately 1.8% of Churchill Financial Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Churchill Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in International Business Machines were worth $9,507,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of IBM. McGowan Group Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in International Business Machines by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. McGowan Group Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,693 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $798,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of International Business Machines by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,874 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,332,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Prasad Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in International Business Machines by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Prasad Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,604 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,068,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Orca Wealth Management LLC increased its position in International Business Machines by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Orca Wealth Management LLC now owns 975 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $285,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Finally, Friday Financial increased its position in International Business Machines by 1.9% during the second quarter. Friday Financial now owns 1,903 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $583,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. 58.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

IBM has been the topic of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $291.00 to $250.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Robert W. Baird started coverage on shares of International Business Machines in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $230.00 price objective for the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of International Business Machines from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, July 18th. Argus lowered their price target on shares of International Business Machines from $360.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $270.00 target price on shares of International Business Machines in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, International Business Machines has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $265.40.

Key Stories Impacting International Business Machines

Here are the key news stories impacting International Business Machines this week:

• Positive Sentiment: IBM’s strategic partnership with OpenAI will embed OpenAI models and tools, including GPT-5.6, into IBM Consulting’s enterprise AI platform. IBM also plans to establish a dedicated OpenAI Practice and train thousands of consultants and engineers, potentially strengthening its position in regulated industries such as finance, government, telecommunications and retail. IBM partners with OpenAI to bolster enterprise AI push
• Positive Sentiment: IBM’s $240 million, multi-year agreement with Together AI will build an NVIDIA-powered AI inference cluster on IBM Cloud. Strong anticipated demand could support growth in IBM’s cloud infrastructure and high-performance AI workloads. Can IBM’s Together AI Cloud Deal Boost Its Growth Prospects?
• Positive Sentiment: IBM-reported research indicates that 85% of organizations planned to increase security spending by May, up from 64% during the prior period, as companies respond to frontier-AI cyber threats. This could benefit IBM’s cybersecurity, consulting and AI automation businesses. Frontier AI Threats Drive Companies to Boost Security Budgets
• Neutral Sentiment: Some coverage characterizes IBM as a relatively attractive technology investment because of its steadier earnings outlook, valuation and dividend, while other commentary highlights longer-term opportunities in quantum computing. These factors may provide support but are unlikely to resolve near-term growth concerns. AST SpaceMobile vs. IBM: Which Tech Stock is the Better Buy Now?
• Negative Sentiment: IBM’s shares have declined even after the OpenAI announcement, suggesting investors want evidence that the alliance can accelerate sales and profits. The partnership’s costs, implementation timeline and ability to convert consulting demand into recurring revenue remain key uncertainties. IBM Stock Drops Despite Major OpenAI Partnership
• Negative Sentiment: Bleichmar Fonti & Auld LLP announced an investigation into potential securities fraud following IBM’s significant stock decline. The announcement is primarily an attorney solicitation and does not establish wrongdoing, but it adds headline and litigation risk. IBM securities fraud investigation reminder

International Business Machines Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of NYSE IBM opened at $234.79 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.79. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $251.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $253.20. The firm has a market cap of $221.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.83, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.70. International Business Machines Corporation has a 1 year low of $199.19 and a 1 year high of $332.46.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The technology company reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.93. The firm had revenue of $17.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.46 billion. International Business Machines had a net margin of 15.52% and a return on equity of 35.65%. The firm’s revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.80 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that International Business Machines Corporation will post 12.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 10th will be issued a $1.69 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 10th. This represents a $6.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 59.98%.

About International Business Machines

International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) is a global technology and consulting company headquartered in Armonk, New York. Founded in 1911 as the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company (CTR) and renamed IBM in 1924, the company has evolved from early electromechanical machines to a diversified technology provider serving enterprises and governments worldwide. IBM is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol IBM.

IBM’s principal businesses encompass cloud computing and software, infrastructure and systems, consulting and technology services, and research and development.